Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)
by char-tomio
Summary: This is just a not-your-average fairytale about a scary florist, a weird dollmaker and a plain young girl who is desperately wants to avoid falling in love.
1. Chapter 1

**Once Upon A Time ~RussLiechNed~**

**This is the not-so-normal fairytale starring a scary florist, a young girl and a weird dollmaker.**

**Genres- Romance, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. But I do own the story. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 1: The Florist**

"Herr Peeters?"

A large Dutch man tending to a few tulips responded to a girl sitting by the window. A girl so small compared to him. He partially forgot the pretty little flowers and tended to the prettier little girl.

"Ja, Lilli?"

"Wann will bruder be back home?"

Lilli Eva Vogel Zwingli, the ward of the 18-year-old military trainee Vash Zwingli. She had been staying with a family friend, the Peeters, a Dutch family who owns a flower shop downtown. They were indeed famous for the quality of their merchandise. Customers far and wide talk about their flowers, the tulips especially. But mostly, they talk about how unbelievable the fact that the man- Lars Peeters- the large miser of a man, a former delinquent during his school days, always smoking a pipe, was the one responsible for everything. He was the one who grew, took care and beautified them. The tulips would not be as beautiful if he weren't the one who handled them. He was the one who inherited their father's green thumb the most.

But enough of that, people were still scared of him. After all, he had a very rough past. Rumors were that he had led his gang of five to victory on a full-scale war against a large fraternity, infamous for trafficking sorts of shady drugs throughout the school. He was then kicked out of college and gained the scar on his forehead, but no one really knew. Those were just rumors. But actually, this little girl knew. She knew about everything. The fight was indeed true, but what people didn't know was that his four companions were actually policemen and teachers. They busted the drug trafficking and for his personal safety, Lars dropped out and moved to W-City. How did she know? Her brother, Vash Zwingli was one of those four.

Going back to the main stream of the storyline, Vash was in his native Switzerland for military training. It was his chance to get recognized, a key to a better future. Best, it was free. And he immediately had a slot waiting for him in the Swiss military. One thing that held him back was his dear sister. Lilli had lost her family in a fire and was about to die from hunger when he found her near the Swiss border. He had taken care of her ever since. He was fretting about her safety, but then, the Peeters had already taken her in. Vash had no problem with that. The Peeters were very trustworthy, he had known them for practically years. Another thing was that the young soldier had his sights set on the Peeters' middle child, Bella. Of course, Lilli knew about that, too.

Emerald eyes brightened at the sight of a soft, pink tulip. She looked up at a similar pair of darker emerald ones. His eyes, Lilli thought, was like her brother's.

She reluctantly accepted the gift. "Do I have to pay for this?"

Lars Peeters blushed very hard. He was quite the miser, everyone knew, but he didn't want the little girl to know that. The towering Dutch man knelt in front of her.

"I'll tell Vash he'll pay for that as soon as he comes home."

Lilli chuckled softly. A small smile traced the man's features. It was not an everyday sight. But it wasn't everyday he made someone laugh. He stood up, adjusted his blue scarf and went back to business, wearing that smile throughout the day.

**a/n: I'm sorry if the chapter was pretty short. For now, I'll be writing this little section to inform you guys some things the story failed to cover.**

**Netherlands**

**Lars Peeters**

**Lars is the eldest, about 20 to 22. He dropped out of college for his own personal safety. He managed the flower shop ever since their parents passed away. It was true that he used to be a delinquent back in highschool and college. He and Vash are close friends, partly because of their spending habits. However, he tends not to be a miser when it comes to other people's necessities. He is quite the overprotective brother to his two younger siblings, Bella and Yann. The scar on his forehead was actually a result of him slipping on an orange peel (courtesy of Yann).**

**Liechtenstein**

**Lilli Eva Vogel**

**Born to Austrian parents in a small town in Liechtenstein near the Swiss border. Lost her family in a fire. Adopted by Vash Zwingli. Is 15, looks like 13, acts like 18. She now lives with the Peeters family. A distant relative of Roderich Edelstein, Vash's childhood friend whom he doesn't really get along well in present times.**

**Switzerland**

**Vash Zwingli**

**18 year old soldier-in-training in Switzerland, as all Swiss males serve in the army or reserve. Like Lars, he is quite a miser, but still, a good brother. He has a collection of guns at home, all handed down to him by his paternal ancestors. Aside from guns, he also loves chocolate. If you ask him, what he really wants to be is a chocolatier.**

**Translation**

**Herr- (Ger.) Mister**

**Wann- (Ger.) When**

**Bruder- (Ger.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Once Upon A Time ~RussLiechNed~**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. That is all. ^J^**

**a/n: I'm sure I don't need to add this, but this is Human AU. Also, italicized words are the characters' inner thoughts.**

**Okay, last. Sinterklaas is Santa Claus.**

**Chapter 2: The Young Girl and the Florist**

She didn't know whether to be happy or depressed about it. Lilli knew she had some male admirers back in school. All of them didn't have the guts to get near her because of her scary elder brother, who wouldn't hesitate to shoot at them when he catches sight of a male at least ten inches away from her. But now, the boys were somewhat acting very close to her and doing things they normally wouldn't do. Sure, having more friends beat being alone, but it was quite uncomfortable to walk around with a hoard of males trailing behind her. They even talk about her regardless whether she could hear them or not. Soon, it was dismissal. She wished her big brother was there to pick her up today. The mere presence of her big brother would scare the living cream filling out of them.

She was about to exit the building when she was stopped by a tiny voice.

"Hey, Miss Lilli, wait up!"

She flinched but put on a polite smile, covering up all signs of discomfort. "..Ja..?"

It was little Peter Kirkland. By little, she meant he was smaller than herself. She had heard that he had a crush on her for ages. He grinned brightly. "Since your brother isn't around anymore, you can walk home with me! Just to be safe, right, Raivis?"

His friend, Raivis Galante, was beside him. Raivis was her classmate, though she never interacted much with him since he was really shy. But she knew he had a crush on her, too. "Ja, that's right.. Y-you should watch out for the crazy man roaming aroun-"

"My apologies, miss, my little brother seems to be bothering you." coughed Arthur Kirkland, Peter's elder brother whom he obviously does not get along well with. And yes, Arthur was friendly to her to the point of creepiness. Peter was bickering with his brother, calling him names such as 'jerk' and everything else while Raivis was getting badly ignored, even with his attempts to stop them. Lilli backed away slowly until she collided with something large. She was scared to even turn back and look at it when the three in front of him suddenly paled.

"I'm glad you didn't leave without me."

A sudden surge of relief overcame her. She turned back. "Guten tag, Herr Peeters."

Lars nodded and glowered at the three. The Kirkland brothers were both busy yelling at each other but soon felt the effects of the cold glare of the Dutch man. Peter unconsciously clutched his elder brother, scared. Raivis shivered visibly. Arthur simply stayed calm and excused themselves. Icy emerald eyes followed him until they disappeared.

...

"You should be careful of those boys." said Lars, walking side-by-side with little Lilli. She nodded in response. "Bella once had a boyfriend, that Antonio Carriedo boy. I was alright with it until she turned rebellious and even fought with me. I don't even want to remember that." he slicked his hair back in exasperation. Seeing that she was interested, he was forced to narrate more. "But then, he broke up with her last year. She cried a lot and..I don't want to see her like that again."

Lilli looked up at him. "What happened to Herr Carriedo then?"

"A-about Antonio?" Lars frowned. He blushed a little. "..I..well..I, uh..punched him."

She stifled a chuckle. She knew Antonio Fernandez Carriedo from her distant cousin Roderich. She had saw him a few times. Spanish beauty. The last time she saw him was a few months ago. Truthfully, his nose didn't even look the same as before. Maybe that was the reason? Lars kept blushing shyly. "Don't tell anyone I did that, okay?"

The Liechtensteiner nodded. "Ja. I promise I won't."

"Goede. Were shopping for rabbit food today."

The girl squealed. She rarely shopped with Vash. It was because most of the time, she would see something that she would really like and ask for it. Vash would really be torn on saving money and pleasing his little sister. He would go home from the grocery with a heavy heart..and the bag would feel so much heavier even if Lilli simply took a measly 200 grams of chocolate.

Lilli once again looked at the Dutch man. He wasn't exactly her brother, but he had the same essence. "Herr Peeters?"

"Ja?"

She fidgeted nervously. "Would you be okay if big bruder marries schwester Bella?"

For some reason, Lars coughed and sputtered. She backed away carefully, worried that she had somehow offended him. It took maybe a few seconds (and a few stares from the bystanders) for him to stop and respond properly.

"..Vash? Vash-Vash is okay.. He's trustworthy.. He's.." Lars' voice trailed off, "..You see, Lilli.. Bella's..Bella already has a..um..stingy brother and I thought..it wouldn't..be nice if her.." Lars fidgeted uneasily at the next word, "..uhm..husband would be one, too.. I-I mean.." The small frown Lilli was wearing threatened him so much. He didn't even know he was capable of panicking. "You see.. Uh, see here for example. I'm sure Vash wouldn't really like it if I married you-"

"Huh?"

"I-I-I mean if you married a miser." he finally caught his breath. Lars found it very difficult to speak to women, especially young, delicate ones like her. Vash would certainly kill him if he found out that he had been talking about this.

_Meanwhile, in Switzerland.._

A tired and sweating Vash Zwingli held a bottle of cold water in his hands. It was a tiring day of training under the sun. He had been dying for a taste of cool water. He opened it and put it to his lips.

"HAAA-CHOO!"

_Back to W-City._

Lars looked down on her and sighed, sitting on his knees. "You see, Lilli.."

The young girl nodded. The Dutch man sighed.

"Well..maybe Vash isn't a miser to everyone.."

"Ja, I'm sure my big bruder will take care of schwester Bella. He's not really stingy when it comes to me.."

_Well, that's just what you think.. _Lars shrugged his shoulders and flashed a subtle sign of approval. "..He..He would be okay, I guess."

Lilli's face brightened enough to challenge the sun. He sheepishly scratched his cheek. Could he even survive with Vash as a brother-in-law? Oh God..

* * *

A small, furry creature responded under Lilli's gentle pats. The Peeters had always kept lots of rabbits at home. They used to have lots of them a few years ago. She could even remember Lars trying to sell some to Vash. She had wanted to keep one, but Vash didn't approve. She smiled at the memory. Now, they only had two. One male and one female. One white and one brown. She was busy petting them until she felt arms wrap around her back. Lilli smiled. "Welcome home, schwester."

Bella Peeters smiled brightly and petted the rabbits. "Danke. Soo, how was your day, little schwester? Any boys?" She loved that Lilli would be staying with them from now on. After all, she had always wanted a sister. She had always wanted it so badly that she used to put ribbons in Yann's hair and dressed him with her old, frilly gowns.

"It was gute." she smiled, "There were some boys wanting to follow me home but.. Herr Peeters told me that he will be to walking me home everyday. Which is gute. I don't really like boys following me home."

She raised her eyebrows teasingly. "Really now..? Is it because of Vash?"

Lilli chuckled. She was a bit nosy sometimes. "A bit."

"Hm, hm.." said Bella, locking herself in the dressing room, "Then that means Yann will be taking care of the shop while he's gone?"

Lilli nodded happily. "Yann did gute on his first day of watching the shop."

Bella smiled and proceeded to change her clothes. She had gone from a hard day of work at the local chocolaterie, where Vash wanted (correction; had been dying) to work at. Bella was apprenticing under a more experienced chef, Francis Bonnefoy. Bella only got into the job because of him- who was Antonio's best friend. Francis was nice, but he did have a reputation of being a pervert. But Bella's 100% safe. With an elder brother like Lars, it wasn't unusual. And believe it or not, Antonio still does care for her, as a friend. But still, Lilli was still rooting for Vash and her (somewhat biased) OTP will not be bothered anyhow.

"So, Lilli, has Vash sent you a letter?" asked Bella, now clad in clean sleepwear. Lilli frowned and shook her head.

"Well then, let's beat him to it and send him a letter first."

Emerald eyes brightened up and she sprang up wildly around the room. Bella grinned.

...

_Dear Bruder,_

_First of all, I'm alright. I live here in Herr and Fraulein Peeters' house. It's very nice. Herr Lars walks me home from school so no boys follow me home. He also lets me help in the shop. Herr Lars reminds me of you always. Fraulein Bella takes good care of me a lot. She's a nice big schwester. Her cooking is very good, especially her waffles. You should try it sometimes when you come back. Also, I can tell her some girl problems I can't even tell you. Which is good. Yann is now taller than me. But he still acts like he's five years old when he's not in the flower shop. That's right, Yann is managing the flower shop. He's not a good gardener, but he's good in business. He inherited Fraulein Bella's business skills, maybe even better. Other than that, he mostly teases me._

_How are you, bruder? Are you eating well? Do you get enough sleep? Please do take care of yourself. I hope that you come back soon unharmed, and as the same bruder I love._

_Ich liebe dich,_

_Lilli._

By her side, Bella had also finished her letter. It was about the chocolaterie and how she was talking to the boss about offering him a vacant spot and apprenticeship under her. By the time he'd return, she would be a regular chef. And he would have to train under her, which made her feel somehow made her feel superior. She had also assured that all of them were taking care of Lilli. Unknown to her, Bella had also been telling him a few secrets about his little sister growing up.

The elder sister stopped scribbling when she heard little muffled whimpers coming from the little girl. She didn't need to ask 'Are you okay?', but instead held her in her embrace. Lilli buried her face into her chest. Tears streaked down from her cheeks.

"..I miss bruder.."

Bella nodded understandingly. If Lars were to leave, she would be in the same situation as her. It was hard to be left behind by an elder sibling, especially in her case, where he was her only family left.

"I miss him, too." whispered Bella, cradling Lilli in her arms. "We all do."

She hummed a soft, soothing lullaby their mother used to sing to them before bedtime. Yann and Lars peeked in Bella's room, hearing the familiar tune. She wasn't very startled. She knew they would recognize it anywhere. Lilli didn't mind the large arms scooping her up away from the mother's embrace. Lars carried her on his back. Yann went hand-in-hand with Bella. They were going to watch the stars up the terrace. It always worked whenever Yann used to cry after their parents died.

Lars set Lilli on the terrace. The wind was cold and the stars were out. He took off his scarf and bundled the young girl up. It was rare for him to do that. Yann and Bella sat on the few chairs that were there.

Bella was first to break the silence as usual. She asked Yann about the constellations, which he intelligently answered. Lilli eavesdropped on their conversation. They were happy. Then, for some reason, their scientific topic jumped to a trip to memory lane about their parents, about milk, Lars' hair gel and finally, about how Lars promised that he would bring Sinterklaas to their house and merely brought Antonio dressed as Santa. That was how Lilli found out that they used to be childhood friends. And how Lars wore a mildly embarrassing reindeer costume back then.

"Do you think Vash could see the stars we're looking at?"

Lilli looked at Lars. She clutched his scarf, which was wrapped around her neck. "I think so."

The Dutch nodded indifferently. The stars were indeed beautiful tonight.

"Which of those do you think is the most beautiful?"

The young Liechtensteiner girl looked up. She pondered over them well. There were all sorts of stars- big, small, bright.. Finally, she settled and pointed at a plain-looking one, but still had that unique shine to it which no one can explain.

"Then that's yours."

"What?"

Lars shrugged his shoulders. "That star is yours."

Lilli's eyes were fixated on them, enamored. "They say stars are looking glasses." Lars continued, "If Vash's looking at your star tonight, he can see you reflected in it. That's what they say, anyway."

This remark made her feel a bit better. Lars then told her to try to wave at him, which she did do. Bella and Yann smiled. He had told Yann the same thing after their parents died. He may have said 'that's what they say, anyway', but it was for the effect of making it sound 'reliable'. Lars had this talent of making fairly believable urban legends. After that, they found themselves talking about everything there was. Lilli was restored to her usual bubbly self. Before entering the house once again, they offered a prayer for Vash's safety. Prayers were more effective when people pray together. Lars was last to come in. He took one last took at a particular star. The one she picked.

"You better come back, Zwingli. I swear I will slap your corpse if you die."

* * *

**Gute- (Ger.) Good**

**Schwester- (Ger.) Good**

**Fraulein- (Ger.) Miss (When Lilli talks about Fraulein Peeters, she is referring to Bella)**

**Danke (Schon) - (Ger.) Thanks (Thank you)**

**Goede- (Dut.) Good**

**BTW, there's going to be a bit of mild SwissBelg here. Hope you guys don't mind.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. That is all. ^J^**

**Chapter 3: The Dollmaker**

Deep in the outskirts of the city exists a man estranged from public.

Intimidating, pale, larger-than-normal man, peering out his window while slowly, skillfully chiselling a piece of wood into a hollow gourd. He was different. He stood out. With his massive build, his silver-blond hair and tan scarf, how could he not?

Frowning, he looks at it with little admiration as he places it next to all the other 'failed' dolls he had made.

* * *

"You haven't heard?"

Lilli looked up from her steaming breakfast waffles. She then saw the esteemed creator herself- her concerned 'older sister', the mistress of the house, Bella Peeters.

"Nein. I haven't heard about it."

Bella sighed. Lilli wasn't the one for gossip. Even if it was very informative gossip that could either save her life or destroy it. "You should be careful on going out. We'll stay with you as much as possible, okay?"

The young Liechtensteiner nodded. "Why?"

Bella fidgeted nervously. She didn't exactly know how to phrase the words in the least offensive way possible. "Um... Lilli.."

The girl furrowed her eyebrows. She looked very very innocent.

There's a loony on the loose."

Her eyes slightly widened. It was what Raivis Galante tried to tell her. The police hadn't arrested him yet, as he hasn't done anything wrong yet. But everyone somehow knew he wasn't right in the head. After all, who else would wear a scarf in the heat of summer and bring a faucet pipe everywhere? No one knew who he was. No one knew where he came from. He just popped up like a mushroom out of nowhere one day, humming to himself in the park and wearing the same set of clothes everyday. Sometimes, he would be find sleeping on the benches, embracing his prized lead pipe and a bottle of vodka. He had spent some nights in prison. He seemed more than happy to come. Partly because he was drunk and partly because he at least needed a decent place to sleep in.

"Do you understand, schwester?" asked the Dutch woman. Lilli vigorously nodded. If she remembered right, she overheard Raivis talking to his cousins Eduard and Toris about accidentally getting into a conversation with the crazy man. She could remember little details about a Russian accent and the love of sunflowers. Also, the man was very smart. Everyone thought that he was simply giving a friendly gesture when in reality, he was already compressing Raivis' skull and spine with crushing pressure. Or maybe that was just how he ruffled people's hair. But all Lilli knew that it wasn't a good idea to pass by the park when going home. Speaking of park..

"Which park exactly, schwester?"

Bella blinked. There were lots of parks in W-City. She hadn't even bothered to know. She smiled apologetically and there was no need for words. She hoped of all the parks, it wasn't the park near home. But if the man managed to interact with Raivis, she was probably wrong.

But if she remembered right, the man had not been seen since that incident. Vash was still home that time.

* * *

A few days passed after the warning was given. It all boiled down to this particularly chaotic day. Lilli insisted on going grocery shopping on her own to buy personal toiletries, but Lars wouldn't let her. Now, Lilli sees him more of a brother than ever.

"Herr Lars, I promise I'll be alright."

"There's a crazy on the loose, haven't you forgotten?"

Lilli sighed. "But, the man disappeared and hasn't been seen since bruder left."

The towering Dutch man simply shook his head in response. "I still need to come with you."

"B-but Herr Lars.." she pleaded. It was too embarrassing to take a guy out shopping for sanitary napkins. It was definitely alright if it was Bella or Vash, but she couldn't take someone like him on such a task. Not even Yann, especially not Yann. And maybe not Vash, too. She blushed at the memory of the first time her big brother had to buy them the first time. He didn't exactly know what was happening and had to consult Bella about it. In the middle of the grocery.

"Then Yann-"

"Nein, not Yann.." she pleaded. Yann would probably complain of all sorts of things and rant about uncomfortable things in public. She didn't want to put up with that. Especially when Yann has a much louder voice than normal. "..I-I'm buying very personal things for me.."

Lars rolled his eyes and looked away, hands on hips. The pipe in between his teeth moved up and down. Too bad Bella was busy at work. Then, he just realized that he always let Bella buy 'personal girl stuff' on her own. So why can't he do the same to Lilli? Most probably because she's just too small, young and a likely prey. Like Red Riding Hood.

Plus, she wasn't wearing her favorite magenta dress but a red hoodie and a skirt. Red Riding Hood indeed. He loved that story. Red Riding Hood..

"Herr Lars.."

The Dutchman blinked a few times. Lilli looked at her with her emerald green eyes. _Nein. Stop staring at those deep green eyes.. Stop.. Stop looking at me like that.. Staahhp.._

Finally, she lost her patience and walked out. Lars didn't notice that she was gone until he heard the door open. Halfway out, Lilli heard a 'waiit' from Lars. The said man jogged up to her, holding something she has never held before.

"If you're not here within ten minutes, I'll call you." said Lars, pushing the cellphone into the young girl's hands. She wowed. It was glossy, glittery...pink? She flipped it open and saw Yann's selfie as the wall paper. Yann's phone.

"Don't worry, I have my own cellphone." said Lars, holding up something...far worse than Yann's phone. Lars scrunched his eyebrows at Lilli giving him 'the stare'. You know..the stare particularly reserved when you see someone holding a piece of poo on a stick. "What about it?"

"I told you, bruder." Yann called out from the shop, "Anyone would laugh at a phone with an antenna- Ugh, bruder, stop flashing that in front of the door, you're embarrassing us. You might as well hold a piece of poo on a stick."

Lars raised his eyebrows. _Funny, that was the same thing I thought._

The girl in front burst into unladylike laughter. The phone was worse than the immortal Nokia 330. But still, she felt warm with familiarity at the sight of the very large and stocky phone.

It was the phone she saw her parents use.

Then again, Lars did the same irritated pose as earlier (hands on hips, angry look). But then, who could blame her? If Yann inherited Bella's phone, he had the misfortune of inheriting their father's. With a wave of a gloved hand, he dismissed her. "Come home early."

"Ja.." she said, finally free of laughter, "Wiedershen, Herr Lars." She walked on until Lars stopped her again. She tried her best not to get irritated.

Lars bent down and removed her purple hair ribbon. "You messed it up while laughing," he said, rearranging it. She let him fix it. Her thoughts were once again pushed to Vash. She never let anyone but Vash touch that ribbon. The Dutch man noticed the downcast look on Lilli's face.

"When you're sad, just remember.." he started.

She looked up at him.

Lars held up his ancient phone.

Lilli laughed.

* * *

Lars did keep his promise. He called after ten minutes, while Lilli was in the counter, paying for her personal stuff. But then, he called _every_ ten minutes, the latest being now. She was at the park. The park near the school, her favorite park where she had to come by everyday, a shortcut to Peeters' Flower Shop. And plus, they had food stalls here. One stall had very unforgettable pretzels, made by fellow Dutchmen. Lars had done so much for her and her brother so it was merely a token of gratitude if she took some home for him.

"I'm sorry, the lemonade will be done in a minute." said the old Dutch man with a kind smile. Lilli nodded as the man suggested she sit in one of the park benches. She stuffed them on her bag as she gazed at the park. A warm November morning. Lilli noticed the number of people today. It wasn't very unusual, seeing that it was a Saturday. Lots of kids and people walking their dogs. She walked over to see if there was any available park benches. There was one, nearest to the stall. She had a neighbor, though, but she didn't mind.

"Guten tag." she greeted. The man, who was staring at the distance, looked at her smiled warmly. He held a blank sketchpad of some sorts and it was obvious that he had no pencil. He was observing everyone, too. While he was looking away, she took time to observe him. He was dressed in a different manner, in a green long sleeved shirt with his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He was also wearing a plain apron and a long tan scarf. A scarf? It was too hot to wear a scarf- wait. Her eyes slowly widened in realization. He had a sketchpad with no pencil..he was staring at everything for the past few hours..he was dresssed weird, he had a scarf...and he had a 3 foot faucet pipe leaning on the benchside.

No doubt.

She was sitting with the loony.

The bag of the pretzels were the only thing that separated them.

* * *

**Finally, we have the dollmaker. Here's a few notes without the spoilers.**

**Russia**

**The Dollmaker (Okay, I won't name him yet but everybody knows what his name is.)**

**So, basically, he's a dollmaker (no one knows it yet) and he's known as the town's resident crazy. Everyone thinks he's a real loony but no one knows his background. His shop (or his home full of handmade dolls) is somewhere far at the northernmost part of W-City. He's always seen walking around (or sometimes, sleeping) in the park. Other from looking like a loony, he's also an alcoholic, which is canon.**

**Luxembourg**

**Yann Peeters**

**Okay, in the webcomic, Luxembourg is known as a very busy person. But I've seen a fanart of him in the Hetalia Shipping Meme and I dunno if it's canon. From his looks, I can see that he's a bit spoiled and a bit of a brat because he's (out of the siblings) the most talented and smart. However, he is very serious when it comes to stuff like work and business. So how he's acting is simply my interpretation.**

**Lars' cellphone**

**The very old, original phone with an antenna. Anyway, Lars is very frugal and he has no intention of replacing it until it breaks.**

**But since it's immortal, it's not very likely.**

**Also, it's cellphone battery only lasts maybe three hours.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. That is all. ^J^**

**Chapter 4: The Dollmaker, the Young Girl and the Pretzels**

Okay, so everything made sense. Looking somewhere farther, seven sweaty people were squeezing themselves in a single bench. While here, no one bothered to sit next to him. She was sitting next to the town's crazy.. Lilli tried not to panic. Okay, so, sitting next to him was bad enough.. Her hand crept to the bag of pretzels and opened it. Lars was the last thing on her mind.

The man looked at her with curious eyes. Lilli gulped as beads of sweat formed in the corner of her forehead. His violet orbs followed her every move. Lilli turned to look at all the other pleasant things this day had to offer.

But at the back of her head, she can still the village loony staring at her. The stare was innocent enough, though.

She set the bag of pretzels down next to her. Surely, the lemonade should be- OHMEINDEARGOTT

The look of horror swept across Lilli's face as the scarfed man leaned in and took a few pieces of pretzels. Now, everyone was staring at them like a live action movie. She didn't dare protest. After all, he had a faucet pipe at arm's reach..and he wasn't right in the head.. Oh, there he is, he's smiling again. She didn't mind how sincere it looked like, it was still scary as hell. As she dug her hand into the plastic, she shivered as the man _talked_ to her.

"What's your name?"

The sentence was thickly accented. She looked up. _To answer or not to answer.._ "..Um..Lilli.." Quickly, she added, "Lilli Peeters."

The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hm, Lilli. Ochen priyatno."

"What?"

"Nice to meet you." he repeated. Though the 'c' was pronounced very hard and more like a 'z', no sign of irritation or danger was heard. Just plain friendly. Too friendly for a man who decided to freeload on her pretzels, Lilli thought. Well, it was her fault, too. She had just remembered that she was about to give it to Lars, too. Well, she was about to go home empty-handed. The man gave off another smile and stared into the distance. 'That's it?', she thought. Well, whatever it was, it was clear that he wasn't going to introduce himself. He was nibbling on a pretzel, not one bit bothered by the pairs of eyes staring at him.

Finally, she saw the Dutchman tending the stall waving at her. The lemonade must be done. Quickly, she grabbed the bag of pretzels and ran off. Her companion whipped around and stared at her speeding off the distance. She didn't see him stretch his hand out as if trying to stop her. He frowned widely.

Lars was trimming tulips in the shop when Lilli barged in, catching her breath.

"You look beat. Did you get chased by Beillschmidt's dogs?"

Well that was a very nice greeting.

Lilli politely shook her head and proceeded to stuff her personal purchases in her room. She couldn't bear look at him now. Not while she had eaten her gift for him. Come to think of it, Lars did bear a small resemblance to the demented Russian..but no, it was far too troubling to think of it.

She shut the door behind her and dumped her supplies on the bed.

Only to be greeted by a her own pack of pretzels, neatly intact.

* * *

**Okaay, if you guys didn't get it, the bag of pretzels earlier was Ivan's (Yes, even if I decided against naming him yet, everyone knows who he really is. :) And Lilli was the real freeloader. I got it from a book by Bo Sanchez, so all credits go to him.**

**Man, she sure gave a lasting first impression to our dearly demented Russian.**

**BTW, how you want to see Lilli and Lars' relationship (as for now) depends on you. It can be in a fraternal sense or something else. All I know is that I'm going to improve this with each chapter.**

**Also, one of the reasons I put Netherlands in here is because he sort of resembles Russia in some way. And also because Netherlands and Russia has lots of (slightly bad) history together.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. That is all. ^J^**

**Chapter 5: The Dollmaker, The Young Girl and The Florist in The Rain**

**a/n: expect all the chapters to have the word 'the' always. I promise nothing.**

It took her a few days to actually get over the pretzel incident. She had never breathed a word to all her housemates and was left alone to deal with things. She flushed pink in embarrassment whenever she would be reminded of that time...maybe that's why the bystanders kept staring at her. Fortunately, no one, not even the loony, humiliated her in public.

Then, she decided that she would publicly apologize. As far as she knew, he didn't look like someone with a problem. He was friendly and proper enough as 'normal' people go. She just needed to remember what he looked like- the scarf. The scarf was the only thing that made him stand out a lot. Scarf, weird clothes, silver-beige hair, Slavic nose, his eyes...his eyes were the most beautiful amethysts he had ever seen. Lilli snapped herself out of those treacherous thoughts. Wait, treacherous? It wasn't like she found him attractive..but that doesn't make him unattractive either. The man was a mystery. And she will not tolerate herself having a crush on a crazy loon.

She was pulled out of her inner debate by Lars, who suddenly barged into their- Bella's and hers- room. It was for the sole purpose of informing her that supper was ready. On ordinary days when Bella wasn't around, Lars headed the kitchen. His gardening skills were exceptional, but his cooking was another thing to talk about. He whipped up the best of Dutch cuisine with such ease and poise. Her eyes drifted to the window. She was really missing her brother.

"Lilli?"

She turned to him. He had not yet left the room. Immediately, she smoothened the creases of her dress and proceeded to follow him out and into the dining room, not letting any more thoughts about the said man bombard her.

As soon as she thought everything was over, her mind was plagued once again by the Russian, seeing that Lars had prepared a dishful of pretzels.

* * *

This.

This was her only chance. She sat down on the same bench next to the pretzel stall. Her freshly-baked snack rested atop of her lap. Lilli endured the stares people gave her- everyone probably thought she had taken advantage of the poor Russian. That was embarrassing.

Maybe he found it bad luck to sit in this bench and opted to stay in another park?

Or maybe he had been drunk once again and stayed the night in the police's?

Or maybe this was one of the days where he magically disappears and eradicates his own self-existence for a few days? She sighed. She wondered if she might be able to actually meet him again.

Something tapped on the plastic bag. Looking closely, there was a drop of water. She looked up, only to get a drop in her eye. More drops fell. Everyone ran for cover. Lilli stood up and ran to wherever good shelter there was. The drops were large and heavy, it even leaked through the large, leafy branches that usually protected her from the sun. But where could she-

Lilli backed a bit and winced as she bumped into a barrel-chested coat. She rubbed her forehead. The plastic bag of pretzels were lost in between them.

It was him.

Looking as weird as ever. He wore his usual scarf and a large tan overcoat, something like a military uniform, complete with a medallion. He looked like a weird historical throwback from the communist days of Russia. His violet eyes were emphasized by the dull color of his features. The clouds made the Earth turn into a dull gray. It seemed like his eyes were the only thing unaffected by the gray. Those beautiful, shining amethysts.

The two had a bit of a staring contest until Lilli remembered the pretzels. She picked up the plastic pack and shoved it into the Russian's gloved hands.

"Es tut mir Leid." she mouthed out. The rain was deafening and the silverette raised his eyebrows. Lilli then ran to escape the rain, only to be stopped in the middle of the downpour.

She didn't have time to gasp as the man opened up his large overcoat and held her against his body. The coat was damp, but it shielded her from the rain nonetheless. It was warm, and he smelled like a closet. She could feel the pack of biscuits once again between them. The heat was making her feel drowzy and tense and...safe. She could feel her brother's presence.

But then, she broke away.

The Russian looked at her confusedly as she apologized once again and attempted to outrun the rain. She covered her face, denying the existence of the warm blush on her cheeks. What was that all about? She had just..embraced a man. Not just an ordinary man, but the crazy Russian. He was the first man she had ever embraced. Her face burned more and more until she couldn't tell where she was. Stopping momentarily, she saw the pet shop. She stepped in for cover and was greeted by the manager- the sleepy old manager whom she just managed to wake with her presence.

"Do you want me to call Lars Peeters..?" Heracles Karpusi yawned, stretching his arms. She noticed that he had a few cats up his lap. Lilli pondered it for a while.

"Ja, bitte."

"I'll take that as a yes.." the man continued, ringing up his phone. She took her time to look at the rabbits and all the animals the pet shop had to offer. She could hear faint details about their conversation, which consisted of Heracles yawning every minute. Soon, their call ended and the shopowner suggested she wait for him a few minutes.

Both of them flinched as a roll of newspaper whacked the Greek man on the head.

"No sleeping on the job!"

It was Heracles' boss, Mister Sadik Adnan. He was a nice as far as most managers go, but had little tolerance for Heracles' habit of taking ten-minute naps every two minutes. Sadik was somewhat a 'friend' of Lars. He was a few years older than the latter, but they share the same interests in gardening. They argue from time to time on whose tulips are better.

"If you don't stay awake, I will seriously fire you from your job. Do you remember what you did last time? You just let someone walk out the shop with our most expensive fish! Get bent or I'll _neuter_ every single one of your cats, you understand, feta breath?! Now-" He was cut off by the presence of the girl. Lilli knew she was short, but she was never ignored like this. "Oh, you're Lars' girl." said Sadik.

Lilli didn't quite get how he phrased the sentence. "..Um, excuse me?"

"Lars' little girl, Lilli, right? The Zwingli guy's ward." the Turk repeated himself. She nodded, but only to the 'Zwingli's ward' part. "How come the guy isn't with you?"

"Um..I left to do something-"

Before she could punctuate the sentence, the wind chimes rang softly, indicating a customer's presence. Speak of the Dutchman. The man in question stepped in, wearing some sort of raincoat. In his hand were two umbrellas.

"Ugh, I'm sure you know that tobacco doesn't have the best effect on animals, Peeter Pan." groaned Sadik. Lars was about to greet him but hearing his weird monicker from highschool made him glower. His pipe moved up and down in between clenched teeth.

"How long have you been here?" the Dutchman turned to the little girl. Lilli answered 'a few minutes' and told him another version of her story where she didn't encounter and embrace the weird man. Thinking about it made shivers run down her spine. Lars furrowed his eyebrows. "You're cold, aren't you?"

Her eyes fluttered. She had taken her visible shivering in a wrong way. Before she could even protest, Lars had already removed his raincoat and scarf, bundling the little girl up. It was warmer, but will Lars be alright? She knew Lars was well-built and was used to the cold, but still, it didn't seem right. He had been receiving too much from him.

Lilli felt guilty about hiding a few things from him.

* * *

"Herr Lars?"

The man looked at the little girl, replacing his usual glower with a softer expression. It was evident that he didn't want to fetch her. A bother, his eyes told her. Lilli shrank a bit. "Um.. C-can I ask you a question?"

"Ja. Go ahead."

She fidgeted a bit, wrapping his scarf around her shoulders once again. "Um.. What do you think would be the best way to repay someone's favor?"

Lars stared into the distance pensively, removing his pipe. He puffed out some smoke. "Do you owe someone?"

"Ja." said Lilli, "Someone like bruder. What do you think I should do?"

"Well..do something that doesn't waste money?" Lars guessed that Lilli didn't really like his answer, the way she looked at him. He bit the pipe and shrugged his shoulders. "You can always do something for him he'd always wanted someone to do. For that to happen, you'll have to know that person inside out." He punctuated his speech by relighting his pipe. Lilli nodded.

"Has anyone surprised you by doing that?"

He stopped walking. Lilli stopped a few inches behind him.

Lars turned to her. "Ja. Someone already did."

As much as Lilli wanted to know about the details, she felt it was inappropriate to be too nosy. What she didn't know was that Lars was actually referring to her.

She had kept Lars from being lonely this whole time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. That is all. ^J^**

**Chapter 6: The Florist And His Nurse**

Lilli had always thought of Lars as someone who never gets sick.

Turns out she was wrong.

Lars Peeters was slumped on his giant bed, down with the flu. Staying in the rain didn't do him any good.

He hated getting sick. He wasn't allowed to smoke, to watch football on TV, worse, he wasn't allowed to manage the flower shop or even touch his tulips! He wished he wouldn't be coming back to the garden with his flowers all dried up and wilted just because Yann had forgotten to water them. He was _that_ bad when it came to taking care of living things.

At least they hadn't considered bringing him to the hospital yet. Or confiscating his bunnies. Confiscating his collection of romantic poetry was bad enough.

He petted the little ball of fluff. Her nose twitched cutely and proceeded to hide in his jacket. Zand, her name was, taken from the sandy brown color of her fur.

So, he looked forward for a whole day of staying in bed, just sleeping. His eyelids were dropping. It wasn't everyday he got a lot of rest.

His eyelids fluttered open, sensing a knock on the door.

"Yann, if that's you, please don't tell me that-." he sneezed, wiping his nose with his sleeve, "agh..whatever, come in."

Lars' green emeralds slightly widened as Lilli, and not Yann, came in. She had a dish full of fruit slices. "Um.. Did I disturb your sleep, Herr Peeters?" The Dutchman shook his head. He noted that she was wearing her school uniform.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked as she set the platter where he could reach it.

"Ja, but I still have a few minutes." said Lilli, pulling a chair and sitting next to the bed, "Schwester Bella's going home early, maybe after lunch."

"What? No, go call her and tell her she shouldn't." said Lars. Lilli shook her head, producing a thermometer.

"She told me not to do that in advance." said the girl. Lars clamped the thermometer between his teeth. His sister knew him too much sometimes. His nurse giggled as he did the traditional 'Lars Peeters' angry look'. The thermometer, in place of the pipe, moved up and down in between his teeth. After a few minutes, she read the temperature. He told her not to stand too close to him, as not to catch his cold. 37.8. A few degrees better than earlier. Soon, it was time to say goodbye. She was leaving for school. As the door shut softly, his hand reached to the platter of fruits. _That was very thoughtful of her.._

* * *

Lars tossed and turned. Every move made his head scream in pain. All of a sudden, everything turned colder. He huddled himself in his blanket. Breathing became a bit hard. His fever was returning.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. His vision was getting blurry. Bright lights around, which made his head spin. He could see a dim figure of someone..

"..Sakura..?" he shivered, still bundled up in the blankets, "..Is that you, Sakura-"

"NOO, BRUDER, ARE YOU DYING?! IT'S ME, YANN! WAKE UP!" Lars winced at the familiar screech. Yann was terrified. If his brother mistook him for someone who was looked nothing like him, then it means that Lars was having delusions. The sick man groaned and scowled in embarrassment.

"What are you doing here?! You're supposed to..take care of the shop..!" Lars was already beat up by his flu, but still strong enough to give him a good scolding. Responsibilities first, his mind echoed. Responsibilities..

Yann tried his best to sit Lars up. He guided him into drinking his paracetamol. Lars wished the medicine would take effect soon and save him from his delusions. Yann let his big brother's head drop limp onto the pillow as he left to answer the door.

"He's dreaming about Sakura again."

Bella raised an eyebrow. Her face fell concernedly. "I thought he's gotten over her..?"

Yann simply shook his head.

"He hasn't."

* * *

**For RussLiech fans (such as me);**

**Please bear with the story for a little while. There will be a part that is full of RussLiech.**

**Hmm..are you guys interested in Sakura? ;)**

**Zand- Sand (Dut.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. That is all. ^J^**

**a/n: I was listening to 'Mercy' by One Republic when I wrote this. Good song.**

**Chapter 7: The Florist And His Angel**

_"I'm leaving."_

_"..."_

_"It's best if we don't see each other again."_

_..._

_"Do you like where you are now?"_

_"Hai."_

_"Goede."_

_..._

Lars weakly opened his eyes. He covered his eyes, refusing the light. He could see Bella sitting at the edge of the room. It might be a delusion, but he could see Antonio with her, laughing. He scowled.

Bella wasn't the only one who had pretty bad luck with love.

After a few hours, which only felt like minutes, he opened his eyes. It was dark. No one opened the lights. Probably 7 PM or so.

The door creaked open softly. "Come in." he groaned.

Light spilled out and bathed a small part of the room. He thought he was seeing an angel. An angel wanting to give him a second chance. He was sure she was not Sakura.

The aroma of warm soup wafted around the room.

"Guten abend, Herr Peeters."

It's been a few years since he was last served meals in bed. It was some sort of sweet, familiar relief, to have someone care about him again. His eye twitched as he scowled. _Not more memories.._

"Herr Peeters? Are you okay?"

Lars snapped out of his musings. He looked straight into her eyes. _She is nothing like her.._ "Ja. I'm.. I'm much more fine than earlier."

Lilli sat down on the same chair and set the lukewarm bowl on her lap. Chicken noodle soup, with carrots and a few potatoes bobbing around. "You can place there. You should go to sleep."

She shook her head. "It would be easier if I stayed here and fed you so I could take the dishes out."

"I know but- what?" he blinked. Lilli was already blowing on a spoonful of soup, cooling it. Lars blushed pink. He shut his eyes and breathed. "No need for that, I can feed myself."

"But this is much easier, Herr Lars." said Lilli, holding out the spoon to him.

"I know.. But it's embarrassing. Vash would not allow you to do that if he were in my situation, ja?"

"He would."

"What?"

Lars blushed. This was too awkward. He hated situations like these. Not after what happened. The situations were too...sweet. He didn't like what was coming back to him. He didn't notice Lilli back down completely from his pained face. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Lilli was looking as unsure as him.

"Herr Peeters, is something wrong?"

He sighed and shut his eyes. He had always wanted this. His deepest desire- someone to talk to about his problems. But it was all too awkward. It felt embarrassing to tell his secret weaknesses to someone who saw him as indestructible. He was afraid on what she would think of him afterwards. Also, it was just something too shallow. The children from the Holocaust would kill to be in his place.

"It's fine."

"You can talk to me." said Lilli, setting down the bowl of soup. Her voice was really soothing, he thought. Truly an angel. "It will be alright. I won't tell anyone."

Lars tensed up. He shut his eyes again. "Are you sure?"

"Ja. It can make both of us feel better."

He frowned at her before sighing. Lars silently sank down beneath his blankets for a few good moments. Lilli fidgeted in her seat at the silence. "Um..Herr Peeters..?"

"Ja?"

"Is.." she shifted uneasily in her chair, "..Is it about Sakura?"

Lars eyes shot open as he turned abruptly to the very much shocked Lilli. He regretted his actions when he felt his head scream in pain. "Where'd you hear that..?"

"F-from Schwester. S-she told me everything, I'm sorry." Lilli stuttered nervously. She didn't know whether she made a bad decision, but the look on Lars' face told her everything. His face was a mix between pain and anger. She looked down on her lap. "..Es tut mir Leid."

Lars glanced at Lilli, but then looked away. Silence took hold of the room.

"I know I can't bellyache too much because...well...this is nothing from most people suffer from..but.." he breathed, glancing at the now shocked girl, "If..well, maybe if I didn't let her go, I wouldn't..I..I still would have at least someone I can talk to everyday."

It wasn't everyday he had a friend to talk to. And this friend was his angel. A merciful angel, helping him to put him back together. He proceeded to tell their story- Sakura and his.

Sakura Honda was a childhood friend of Lars Peeters. She was everything a man would want- beautiful, refined, from a privileged family, graceful, kind...she had the makings of a perfect wife. But she was a loner. She was mostly alone and lonely, she hardly talked to her parents and equally distant twin brother. And he was the only one she talked to. They had each other's backs. To them, they only needed each other and that was fine.

Until Lars made a fatal mistake of courting her. But she accepted his love, and they their relationship was beautiful enough as most highschool relationships go. They lasted until college. That's where it ended. Basically, Lars became somewhat of a delinquent amidst her attempts of trying to drag him out of that life. She didn't know that he joined the gang because he wanted some physical training. He had his 'brothers', he learned the truth about the world and how to protect his family and her. But she wasn't there whenever he got beat up. Of course, she wanted to be there to nurse him, but her family wouldn't allow it. The final straw was when he tried to actually prove himself. He raided another gang together with the police. For his safety, he dropped out, and that was where her family stepped in. He didn't know what made him angry- the fact that her family meddled with their relationship or that she had a family that actually cared for her. He was bitter about the loss of his parents at that time, so his mental state wasn't at it's peak. They had a fight- a one-sided fight. Sakura never raised her head whenever he yelled at her. That was when he realized how horrible he was. The sight of seeing her helpless was enough to break him into two. It was his fault.

He was never good enough for her.

Instead of protecting her, he broke her with his words. In the end, he left. Ended their relationship so she didn't have to. Moved with his family to W-City. Little did he know, he would meet her again. He did meet her- she was still as beautiful as before, but the traces of repressed anger or fear still seeped a bit out of her usually shy demeanor.

She was happy- with another man. An American. He hated the man. Seemed to loud for someone as silent as her.

But now, at least she was happy. He talked to her, said sorry and everything. She forgave him. She told him that she did like where she was now. Lars told the man, Alfred, to take care of her. With that, they parted ways.

Their friendship was non-existent, forever broken.

Lars felt vulnerable throughout the confession. Lilli silently listened. He knew she cared.

He didn't know what life would be without her. For years, he had seeked momentary repairs. And there she was. He immediately grew attached to her since he met her- she was still little and her hair was in braids, shyly hiding behind Vash. When Vash was not around, she would always, without fail, visit him. Of course, she spent more time with Bella and Yann, but she also visited him in the shop. She let him pet his rabbits and take care of the few tulips he allowed her to touch. Come to think of it, she was the only person he allowed to touch the flowers he grew. Because she knew she would not to them any harm.

Vash leaving for training resulting to her move changed his life. She could see her everyday. They would have short conversations and every bit of her words gave him strength. A different kind of strength. She put him back in place. She gave him a chance to better himself. A chance to make up for his wrongs and give her the kind of care he gave to his tulips. A chance to prove that he will not break everything he touch.

Now, she had heard his story.

Lars thanked whatever force had brought her to his path. He had promised Vash to take care of her. He will not make the same mistakes he did with Sakura.

"Herr Lars?" Lilli crept near the man, who looked like he was having a bad hallucination. He glanced at her and stared into her eyes. Lilli managed to take a better look at him. It was dark, but somehow, he looked better up close. His green eyes had a very unique shine to them. Also, he looked quite handsome with his hair down. Unconsciously, Lars pulled her closer, _gently,_ and wrapped her arms around her smaller frame. She was fragile, delicate and needed to be handled with utmost care. Lilli couldn't breathe, not because of the embrace, but because of the sudden happenings. He was warmer than normal, possibly because of the fever. She could feel his soft breaths and every beat of his heart.

This was too awkward, Lilli thought.

Lars was thinking differently. He was also mentally scolding himself for his rash actions, but he couldn't help it.

All he wanted was to get fixed by her.

And maybe.. Just maybe..

He would have a go at her when she gets a little older.

**..well that was..um..I can't find the right words to explain this chapter. (but I feel proud of myself, though. Mind you, this is the first time this' ever happened.)**

**So, there, Sakura Honda is Fem!Japan and the events simply corresponded with real Japanese history, Japan's isolation, Netherlands, America..etc. because..well..I make sure what I write does make sense. (And because Fem!Japan is just oh so cute to be left out.)**

**So there, Lars does indeed have affection for Lilli.**

**I found that most reviewers really want Ivan, so there, expect him to make an appearance the next chapter. (Though I can't guarantee it'll be that big.)**

**Thank you and may this fic have more viewers. ^J^**

**-Char Tomio**


	8. Chapter 8

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, including the things mentioned here, such as Helen of Troy.**

**Chapter 8: The Dollmaker And The Young Girl's Respective Issues**

Large, skilled hands clothed in leather ran over yellow hair. His bright purple eyes danced, inspecting every bit of the fine specimen he held.

It was a tiny nesting doll, one he has just recently finished. A girl, dressed in modest clothes- pink overalls, white long sleeved shirt and a dainty neck ribbon around her collar, also pink. She had a head of bright yellow hair and her eyes were emeralds.

After inspecting it for a while, he shook his head and frowned. This was not what she looked like. Or at least how he remembered her.

"Aiyah, Braginski, it's been a month and you haven't been making any good dolls, aru." said a short Chinese man, "Do you still even have anything to eat?"

The dollmaker nodded silently. He had done a lot of dolls, none which he had approved or at least deemed good enough to sell. His work table was flooded by a population of his specialty- matryoshkas. Most of his 'failed' dolls were just turned into firewood. He hated it when it happens. It felt much like someone sacrificing an only child.

He didn't notice the Chinese man look into his cobweb-filled cupboards. "It's a ghost town in here, aru." he commented. Taking a look at the lowermost drawer, he let out a loud 'Aiyah', seeing that it was once again filled with bottles and bottles of vodka.

"And you ask me why you get stomachaches." he raised a thin eyebrow at him.

"Not moy fault, Mister Wang." he frowned, fidgeting on his seat.

Wang sighed and turned over to his table. "I'll take these."

"These?", he pointed to the 'failed' dolls, "Nyet, these are not good enough-"

"It doesn't matter. As long as we have something to sell." Wang glanced at him. The dollmaker wasn't in such a good shape. "Also, you need to eat decent food, aru."

At the same time, in another part of W-City, Lilli was watching a movie in the TV room.

She was relieved that Lars was feeling much better- he was once again watching football, tending to his flowers, and yelling at customers. He was back to normal again.

Aside from the fact that he didn't talk to her. On the few occasions they would talk, he hardly looked at her. He rarely even fetched her from school. Well, that night's events were awkward enough..

The movie was good enough, as most historical movies go. Or as most movies from Heracles Karpusi go. She never did think that he would even have these kind of movies...well, maybe she did expect them. At least it had nothing to do with cats.

It was a classic- Helen of Troy, about the famous Helen whose matchless beauty launched a thousand ships and caused the famous war between Greece and Troy. It was very long.. about three hours. She didn't expect Heracles to even stay awake throughout the whole film, but he did. He knew every detail of it in vivid color. Or maybe because he's watched the movie ever since he was two. But never mind, the movie was very nice. The romance between Paris and Helen was beautiful, but there was one interaction that very much intrigued her.

There was Theseus, the King (who did not look much of a King, per Helen) of Athens, who kidnapped her, with seemingly bad intentions. That's where the word 'seemingly' comes in. He knew all about Helen's mother, and only wants to be her friend, even resisting when Helen herself wanted to marry him. That intrigued her very much.

Lilli didn't mind if they ended up together. She even wished to have a real-life incident like that. Such a loyal friend. At the back of her mind, she could see the resemblance between Lars and Theseus, but well, no. The thoughts were very much disturbing..and-

"Lilli, what are you watching? Turn that off."

She whipped around to see a red-faced Lars, who was reaching for the remote. Before he could even hit pause, she quickly intervened.

"Herr Lars-"

"I've watched that movie before and I can say it's not for kids your age." he frowned.

"But I'm 15."

"Exactly, it's for 18 and up." said the Dutchman. She frowned. Just like Theseus, always treating her like a kid. She had wanted to protest but Lars was already placing the CD away, muttering something under his breath something along the lines of 'How did she get this movie' and 'Heracles really doesn't watch anything other than this, does he?'. Lilli really needed to watch it some other time- when Lars isn't around.

The door creaked shut.

Normally, Lars would notice her and ask if everything was alright.

She missed that side of him.

* * *

The dollmaker looked up at the modest decor of his house. It's wooden walls were homey enough, littered here and there with wooden novelty clocks and other crafts he made during his years. How many years had he been in this business..? He couldn't tell. It stressed him to take a look at his empty work table. Why was he not making any good dolls?

He placed a shielding arm on his head. The light was blinding. It was the only functioning light source in his home- he had been too occupied to even change the bulbs. He basically lived in his bedroom. It had everything.

Soon enough, he rose up and went downstairs. He sure needed a drink..

**..Hey, it's me again. And this is a filler chapter about their backgrounds and what's really happening.**

**Notes;**

**China**

**Yao Wang**

**Okay, so basically Yao is some sort of Ivan's boss. That's all I will provide. Ivan will tell you the story later.**

**But, he is a good businessman.**

**Russia**

**Ivan Braginski**

**So, in this chapter, I've told you a bit about his house. Or shop. He's much like a Russian Geppetto (from Pinocchio, remember?), or for the younger ones, the witch from Brave. His creations are basically everywhere- moving clocks, wood figurines, decorations, frames, etc.**

**I just watched Helen of Troy for some inspiration (and because we had to. For History class.)**

**My mom saw me watching that and she was like, 'We have a CD. Haven't you watched that before?'**

**And so, I responded ever so cleverly, 'But I was two years old when we last watched it.'**

**Yeah, we did have a CD, but basically, being two years old, did not understand (or remember) anything from that. The film's very very old- you wanna know how old?**

**Stellan Skarsgard (Dr. Selvig from The Avengers/Thor, I'm sure everyone knows him) had hair.**

**Okay, that was basically my first reaction; 'OMG, Stellan Skarsgard has HAIR!' Hey, I'm not actually making fun of the guy. I think he's awesome. (When he had hair.) I tell you, one day, our children will be watching Pirates of the Caribbean and say the same thing about Johnny Depp. Or for a worse but more realistic scenario, your grandchildren looking at your photographs and saying the same.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia. But if Himaruya-san wants to switch for a day...**

**a/n: Brace yourselves because we are going to dive deep into a not-so-typical 15-year-old teenage girl's mind.**

**Enjoy.**

**Chapter 9: The Young Girl's Thoughts About The Florist**

She always had a hard time refusing things. This was the worst.

"..I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid I can't accept your offer."

The man in front of her simply scratched his chin. "..I understand, but..may I ask why?"

Lilli's eyes stuck to the ground. She still didn't want to have a boyfriend. It wasn't the time. And he wasn't the one.

"I presume it's because of your brother?" Arthur Kirkland asked.

She shuffled uneasily. No, it's not because of Vash. Actually, she could easily say yes to anyone and keep it a secret, if she wanted to. But that was the problem. She didn't want to. But she couldn't just tell him she didn't like him. That would be too sudden. She didn't like the idea of offending people.

"..Because.." she clasped her hands, "..I like someone else."

It was then she started to mentally panic. Where did those words come from? It was relieving that Arthur took everything with stride.

"Who?"

"Do you really have to ask that?!" Lilli felt a gush of relief that she managed to stop herself from actually yelling those words in an unladylike fashion. However, what she really said was more regrettable.

"Lars Peeters."

The shock was evident in both of their faces. Thankfully, Arthur was too caught in his own astonishment that he failed to notice that Lilli was equally dumbstruck with her own words.

It took quite a while before one of them managed to speak. "I understand." said Arthur with great difficulty. He forced a shy smile. "Goodbye then."

"Ja." she silently responded.

Arthur nodded and left without looking back. Lilli's heart was beating so incredulously fast that it was almost choking her. That was single-handedly the most unnerving situation of her life.

But wait, the thing that intrigued her most was her previous excuse. Was she really serious? Sometimes, Lilli has a very hard time believing the various things she says without thinking. Maybe it was subconscious, or maybe..but all she could think of at that time was Lars.

Wait-wait-wait, no. No Lars. Not Lars. Thinking of Lars in a very brotherly way. Once Vash finds out that she did something funny, Vash, without fail, would blame Lars. _Ja, that would happen. That's why._

_Hm, I wonder if bruder is okay. Switzerland is a nice place. Maybe bruder would finally give in and buy some good Swiss chocolate without any worry and because he had no one to share it with- wait, why am I suddenly thinking of Switzerland?_

_Why are women like this? Their's thoughts are really like spaghetti. Connected and tangled and messy that they could easily talk about ten topics in a minute. Men's thoughts are like boxes. First, they need to open them up...and close them afterwards before moving on to another box. Their favorite box hands-down would be the 'nothing box'. Which is why when men stare into the distance and claim that they're thinking about nothing...they're-they're actually telling the truth. That's what I've read, anyway- D'oh._

Such thoughts ran in Lilli Zwingli's mind. She has the mental capacity of a super computer, able to process different thoughts in a rapid rate.

And while trying to focus on thwarting all the romantic thoughts (does this sentence even make sense?), she only found herself in a very disagreeable conclusion.

She might be attracted to Lars Peeters himself.

* * *

She tossed herself around the white covers. The thoughts were really bothering her. Her tummy growled. She didn't feel like eating earlier and now, she was starting to regret everything.

_Confound these thoughts._

They were scaring Lilli out of her wits. It wasn't such a good idea to like someone who lives in the same house with you. It's..awkward. And plus, he was sort of old. He was five years older than her...okay, maybe not too old, but still..

Her mother wasn't going to be very pleased about these thoughts. If she could somehow manage to see them.

"Lilli, schwester, are you okay?" Bella looked down from her bunk bed. She slept in the upper part while she opted for the one below, because of some irrational fear that she'd fall down.

"I'm okay, schwester.." the younger girl yawned, "Just having a hard time sleeping."

"Really now?" Bella's 'sister senses' were tingling. Usually, she would be already sleeping at this time. Maybe it had something to do with her lack of dinner? "Do you want to talk?"

Usually, she would be thrilled. But now, well, no. She might end up confessing her little revelation. It took a lot of strength to keep secrets, especially from someone as nosy as Bella.

"..Um..okay." Turning down their nightly conversations would just make it more obvious, she thought.

Bella smiled. "So, I heard that the student's dance is coming up."

She almost hit her face with her hand. How could she forget? "..Actually, I forgot all about it."

"Really now?" she teased, "Were you worried about your date? Or that Lars wouldn't let you come?"

_Well, that was all very helpful, thank you very much for giving me more things to think about._. Bella knew that, since it took quite a while before she could respond.

"Of course Herr Lars wouldn't let me join." said the younger girl, shifting herself on the bed. Bella looked down. She sure did look downcast.

"I had a hard time asking bruder to let me join these things, too. But in the end, he couldn't say no." said Bella, nonchalantly, even with a little pride.

"How?"

Her good mood sort of disappeared. "..I let him come along as my date. Which is why some other girl got Toni..." Bella sighed. She didn't like that memory. Lars had her in a leash throughout the whole event. She only had one dance with her boyfriend then, which Lars carefully eyed. He was pretty bitter about the whole Sakura fiasco that time, which only contributed to his foul atmosphere, seeing all the happy couples dancing.

And in the lower bed, Lilli didn't like Bella's proposition one bit. Her face was aflame. She..and Lars? Lilli did want to attend prom, take a few pictures, maybe meet a nice boy.. Everything was torturing her.

"..Isn't there any other way, schwester..?" she sheepishly commented. Her hopes were crushed by her negative response.

But maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought. After all, she could dance with him.

NEIN, GOTT WHERE DOES THESE THOUGHTS COME FROM?!

"Lilli?"

"..Did I say it aloud..?" she squeaked.

Bella scrunched her eyebrows. "..Ja, but in German."

The little girl cocooned herself with the white blanket. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sighed. "Schwester," she kicked off the blanket, "Is it really true that you fall in love with someone you regularly see?"

**I realized that I haven't been making translations..**

**Okay.**

**Nein- (Ger.) No**

**Gott- (Ger.) God**

**So, I hope you liked the little theory about the difference between men and women's thoughts. Then again, I got it from the awesome Mr. Bo Sanchez. All credits go to him.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia. But if Himaruya-san insists..**

**No. I don't want any responsibility.**

**a/n: BTW, have you seen Netherlands with his hair down? Search in Google Images before you read. :3 Best song that fits this chapter would be 'Realize' by Colbie Caillat.**

**Chapter 10: The Young Girl Dancing With The Florist**

Lars Peeters loathed looking at the mirror. His reflections only made him remember the no good delinquent who made a girl cry.

He shook his head. He was only in front of the mirror because he had to fix something. Alright.. loop over the triangle.. He looked once again to check the appearance. But then, he was distracted by the man looking straight into him.

Lars sighed, throwing away the detested piece of clothing and sitting on the bed. It wouldn't hurt if he didn't have a tie, right? Screw this prom. Why did he even agree? Oh, right. Because Lilli was his responsibility. He preferred to think of it that way.

He accepted her offer because it was his responsibility. And he accepted it in himself that it wasn't the only reason that caused him to agree. Maybe he could live a little..and actually dance with her. The thought of it made him smile a bit.

The man returned to the mirror. Maybe he could at least change a little bit of himself..

Lilli didn't quite know what was taking Lars so long. She was already fixed enough- a knee-length black cocktail dress. She had a few hair decorations, beads, flowers and Bella had done her makeup. It was very light, but still had the appearance. She wore three-inch heels.

But still, the fact that Lars took more time in preparation than her meant that he was exerting effort in making himself presentable. That or he's drowned in his closet.

"Herr Lars-"

Right on cue, he stepped out of the room. A three pairs of green emerald eyes widened.

"..B-broer...?" Bella and Yann stuttered.

"Uh.." Lars drawled, slightly creeped out by the looks everyone gave him. "..Het spijt me..for being late..?"

He was very well-dressed in the sense- an open black coat, slacks and a white long sleeved shirt. Instead of a tie, his usual blue-and-white scarf was wrapped around his shoulders loosely. Best, he had his hair down, which was the primary reason why they were all drooling over him.

Lars noticed that they would not stop staring at him.

"..Fine, I'll gel back my hair-"

"NO WAIT-" Lars soon found himself being dragged down by three pairs of hands.

* * *

Lars searched for anything that seemed interesting in a safe degree. Interesting without fully distracting him away from his ward. Lilli was sitting opposite him at the round table. Her friends whom they shared the table with were dancing in the sea of frenzied youth and flashing lights. Lilli had never been exposed to loud parties, so she wasn't really very much involved. Everything changed though, when sweet and slow music started to play, and everyone grabbed their partners and danced. Of course, Lars felt once again uneasy. He glanced at Lilli, who was at the same time, looking at him. They both looked away from each other at the same time.

He fidgeted from his seat. He could see a few men wanting to approach his date. The Dutchman smirked. _His date.._

Lilli looked at his sudden movement. He stood up and fixed his coat. "What, are we just going to sit around through the whole party?" he said indirectly, not looking at her. His date glanced at him confusedly. "..Pardon?"

He grunted and reluctantly (read: shyly) held out a hand. "Wil je met me dansen?"

"Um, come again-"

"Will you dance with me?" The offer seemed more of a demand, from the way he phrased it. He didn't notice the smile that lit up her features. And she didn't notice the small smile he had as she took his hand. Lars led her somewhere not too crowded and started to sway with the slow rhythm.

Lilli wasn't really able to look straight into his face. She knew that he wasn't looking at her either. She simply stole quick glances at his face. He looked extra nice with his hair down. For some reason, he couldn't find anyone else as presentable as her date. Some girls were even looking at him. She must be pretty lucky.

Lars was thinking of exactly the same thing, though he'd sometimes be reminded of Sakura. She was too much like her- their shy faces. But Lilli was her own wonderful persona and comparing her to another was offensive. Her hands were easily engulfed by his, and he couldn't ignore how soft it was.

"What do you think of Lars Peeters?"

She looked up to him and blushed. He was thinking whether to repeat the question or just shrug it off, but she beat her to it. "I think you look just fine."

He smiled a little. She was as pretty as the tulips he grew, and he knew she would grow to be prettier in the years to come, especially with the right care.

But, it pained him to come to terms that she will not be his. He knew how Vash felt. It was something he learned from his years of tending to his flowers. No matter how much effort he would exert on taking care of his tulips, in the end, he still has to sell them. He could keep them for a while, but a time will come when he will have to give them away.

"Nothing else?"

Lilli giggled sweetly. "I think Herr Lars Peeters is a gentleman."

"And?"

"And he is a very sweet man. I can tell a lot of things most people don't know."

Lars blushed. He looked away momentarily from her. "J-ja, enough, dank je."

She smiled. "What do you think of Lilli Zwingli?"

"Her brother is a maniac."

She stifled a chuckle. "Ja, is there something else?"

Lars flashed a questioning expression and turned back to her. "She is..pretty. Pretty as a fresh tulip bud." With a little more affection, he added, "And she needs more time and care to grow."

Lilli bowed down her head, trying to hide the blush tinting her cheeks. "I see."

Maybe she really did like him for the way he cared for her. That was all very sweet, but he only thought of her as a sister and nothing else. Or so she wanted to think.

"Herr Peeters?"

"Ja, Lilli?"

"Danke schon for coming with me here. It means a lot."

_Maybe if he did realize that he was the only one that makes me feel this way.._

"I should be honored that you actually chose me to be your date." said Lars, searching for anything suspicious, "I can see lots of them wanting to kill each other for your hand."

She shook her head. Lars looked at her concernedly. "Tell me if you want to rest."

Lilli didn't really mind if she danced with him all night long. At least she knew she was safe. Now, all she needed to do was to keep her feelings in check and make sure she doesn't do anything rash like suddenly confessing to him.

"Herr Peeters, I think this is enough." Lars nodded and escorted her back to the table, even pulling out a chair in a gentleman-like fashion.

"It's alright if you want to dance with someone. I'll be watching you." said Lars, drinking some water. Lilli smiled. It was so nice to have a guardian. After a few short minutes, Lilli was asked to dance by a seemingly harmless classmate- little Raivis. Lars let them be but watched them carefully. His eyes turned to his closed hands.

_Maybe she only thinks of me as a substitute for Vash.._

Little Lilli seemed to be at ease with her situation. After Raivis, there was already a line on who would dance with her next. Of course, Lars did find himself asked to dance by a few brave women. It seemed a bit inappropriate to turn them down, so he agreed, never keeping his eyes away from Lilli. For that reason alone, no one danced with him longer than four minutes.

A few moments later, they found themselves in each others' arms once again. It was a mutual relief. Soon, he found himself smiling widely, a sight no one has ever seen.

The whole night seemed to pass very eventfully in a good way.

* * *

**Broer- (Dut.) Brother**

**Hej spit me- (Dut.) Sorry**

**Danke schon- (Ger.) Thank you**

**I get my Dutch phrases from Omniglot . com, under the query 'Dutch Tourist Phrases' (Da, 'Will you dance with me' is categorized as 'Tourist Phrases', lucky me~)**

**Thank you for all the love this fic has been receiving.**

**A little more and Russia will (finally) make his very long appearance.**

**Well, I noticed I've been making Bella and Yann use 'bruder'. I just learned that in Dutch, it's actually 'broer'. Sorry 'bout that.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia. Never will happen and not planning to.**

**a/n: I dunno if this has some Alfred-bashing but men tend to act very irrationally. I've heard of some things like these in the news and well...I watched The Godfather for some inspiration. (The films I watch are getting older and older)**

**Anyway, here's the story. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 11: The Florist In Trouble**

Lilli was browsing through some good books. It felt a little strange. She wondered what took Lars too long in the bathroom. Sure, the bathroom was in the neighboring shopping mall a few roads away and he was a different breed of man.. He did take longer in the WC than the average male because of his not-so-average hair which most of the time needing last minute touches. She hoped he wasn't fixing it up again.

Meanwhile, Lars felt a different kind of strange, like something bubbling in his stomach when he had to see them. What time was it already? It didn't matter but Sakura was never meant to hang out with Alfred Jones at this hour.

_What the hell am I doing..?_ But it was too late. He already found himself in front of the couple.

"P-Peeters-san?" Sakura looked up to him. Lars' face was had a concerned gentleness towards her. It dramatically changed into the old don't-mess-with-the-Dutchman look, turning to the young American.

"Whoa, dude, your hair." was the only thing Alfred could comment. Sakura seemed pretty nervous.

"I know it's none of my business but.." Lars drawled, passing a heavy hand through his hair, "Shouldn't she be home at this hour?"

"O-oh, her?" Alfred chuckled. His face was painted with uncertainty, as if trying to make up an excuse, "Got caught up with work and saw her.. Of course I had to walk her home."

Lars knew this was an outright lie. No way Sakura would be out on this hour. And what work? Jones was only college, as far as he remembered. _Stay out of this, Lars.. This is not your fight. You have to go back to Lilli._ But just looking at Sakura made his blood boil at the American.

The girl could only gasp as Lars held Alfred by the collar until they saw each other eye-to-eye.

"This will be the last time I see you and Sakura out on this hour." he growled, slowly lowering Alfred. "Escort her home immediately."

With that, he turned back and tried not to look back. However, his hidden violence resurfaced as Alfred muttered some obscenities that made clear that he wasn't going to abide to his rules.

After a few minutes of losing control over his emotions, he found himself standing before a bloody nosed Alfred. His blood ran cold. Lars wasn't as remorseless as he was back then. For all he knew, he could be charged with assault. Sakura immediately went to Alfred's side. He had hurt her indirectly again.

The former delinquent felt his knees weaken as Sakura faced him. She wasn't angry.

He was shocked to see her bow respectfully before him.

"Gomen nasai about Alfred-san. Please-"

Then again, he was more shocked as Alfred rose and gave him probably the strongest punch he had ever received. Sakura immediately pulled the raging man down. Alfred yelled all sorts of things that made Lars head hurt more. She was still latched to his waist and as he broke free, she yelled.

Both men stopped. Slowly, they turned to her. For her twenty years of existence, it was the first time she had done that.

"Please, stop already, Alfred..!" she cried, much softer than earlier. She tried hard to stop the tears. She didn't want two people important to her to hurt each other. Not Lars nor Alfred.

However, the American got the wrong idea. "So, you're siding with him."

Her eyes shot up. "I-iya, I just-"

"Well, fine." he smirked, thought hurt a bit. "Go ahead and leave me. Stick with that Peeters of yours. I just hope he'll find a good excuse once he sees your parents."

Both were speechless as a very mad Alfred disappeared in the darkness. _Well that was moody...well, I used to be like that before. Gah. _Lars bent down to check if she was alright. He didn't notice his voice shaking and the way he mixed up some Dutch in his rapid-fire questions.

"I-iya, I'm alright." she said, standing up. Lars did the same, checking his coat for any damages. _Sadik will not be happy to see that I managed to destroy his suit within a few hours of using it.._

"Anata wa?"

He turned to her. "Huh, me?"

"Hai?" she shyly averted her gaze, "D-does it hurt..?"

Lars felt his face aflame. Alfred did quite pack a punch. It intrigued him on how such a boy possessed such great strength. He similarly averted his gaze. "Ja..I'm okay."

A few minutes of silence engulfed the two. Lars suddenly remembered his ward probably waiting for him in that bookstore. Without any more words, he gestured her to come. First, they would have to escort her home- Lilli and him.

...

Lilli didn't mind extra company. Sakura and Lilli seemed like instant friends. Lars smirked a little, seeing how the two immediately became friends. Both were raised well to be proper ladies, which was probably the reason. Lilli seemed to be a Westernized version of Sakura.

Finally, they came upon the large Honda estate. It was a traditional Japanese house. Lars had been there a few times outside, and like always, her father was waiting for her outside.

The two gasped as upon arrival, Sakura's father immediately slapped her in front of everyone. Not even her twin brother Kiku, who was watching from a distance, was able to intervene.

Her father started yelling at her in rapid Japanese and dragged her inside. Lars wasn't able to even talk her out of the situation.

But before finally disappearing, Sakura shot Lars a pitiful, pleading glance.

The paper doors slid shut.

...

"Herr Lars."

The Dutchman looked to his left. Lilli had noticed how distant he had been.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He nodded lifelessly. It took a few minutes for him to finally break the ice. "I wish I could've protected her."

Lilli was a bit jealous and she hated to admit it. But that was that.

_You dummy. Of course Herr Peeters doesn't like you. He does not like young girls. He is as good as your bruder._

"I hope she's okay." Lilli muttered. Lars remained expressionless. She sighed. Her eyes remained fixated on the Dutchman's hand. Calloused, but still smooth. Her gaze lingered longingly.

He stopped, feeling a small, soft hand grasp his larger one. He didn't want to protest, but it felt wrong.

"Lilli-"

"Bruder always used to hold my hand whenever I feel sad." He didn't have anything to say after that. Lilli felt bad, having to use Vash as an excuse, but it was the only way she could make him consent. He held her hand gently as they walked.

The park was entirely empty and the moon was full, overshadowing the streetlights. Crickets chirped softly in the background. The night wind was cold. She felt it, due to the minimal clothing she wore.

"Herr Lars."

"Ja, Lilli?" He stopped, feeling her hand to slip out of his.

She stood a distance behind him. "I have something to tell you."

A few leaves rustled in the wind. Lars' eyes narrowed dangerously as he signaled her to keep it down for a moment.

But it was no use denying their existence.

Eight men surrounded them.

She mentally cursed each of them. But still, at least they prevented her from doing such an awfully stupid thing- confessing to Lars Peeters.

But now, their lives might be in danger.

Lars stuck out a protective hand in front of her.

"Don't harm her." he growled. "I know you've come for me." He was fuming beyond words. If he couldn't take out his anger on that bastard he hated so much, then these men would be a good enough substitute. And he knew where they came from. Alfred was pretty moody but he didn't even think that he'd stoop this low.

The men simply snickered as they all charged into the Dutchman. "Run." Lars sternly instructed, "Run home. I can take care of this."

She was about to protest when he yelled. "RUN!"

Lilli stuck to orders and staggered in her uncomfortable shoes. Lars was always a stern man of rules. She had to obey them no matter what, for their own good. Of course, she was going to call for help first. As much as she wanted to trust him, he couldn't handle eight men.

Or seven, as one followed her. Lars gritted his teeth and started to fend the thugs off, barehanded. He only prayed that they don't catch her.

Lars Peeters cursed himself for even involving himself with Sakura once again.

The girl couldn't run fast. Her heels were very much buckled securely in her feet. She was about to escape the park. Just a little more.

She tripped and fell on her face. Her pursuer seemed more than pleased, managing to take a little glimpse of something under her dress. She was close to cussing out. Her ankle probably got sprained.

"Nein.." she cried softly, trying to stand up. As she flipped herself over in a sitting position, she saw that despicable man taking his time, walking over to her. She didn't mind if her dress would shred, she inched away. Every movement made her ankle hurt. Her assailant was closing in on her and she had no choice.

"Nein, bitte.." She closed her eyes. The man smirked.

Lilli heard glass smashing. And opened her eyes just in time to see her assailant falling flat on his face, just a few centimeters away from her. In exchange, she saw a larger man holding a bloody remnant of a broken bottle of vodka.

* * *

**America**

**Alfred Jones**

**Alfred is a few years younger than Sakura (because in canon, Japan is older than America, though not evident). He is in college and is secretly involved with the things Lars used to be involved with. He's a bit moody because of his teenager hormones, which is quite normal (but if I remember right, this only applies to women..), well, in canon, he is still moody (in terms of his weight.) He possesses an abnormal amount of strength.**

**Fem!Japan**

**Sakura Honda**

**Sakura is not close to her family, father especially, as she was raised in a formal and traditional family of nobles. Though there are some modifications that allowed her to interact with people outside the clan, there is still the distinct strictness in between them.**

**Soo, thanks for everything. In exchange, I need to ask a favor. I had the honor (or misfortune) of being tasked to represent my school for an inter-school quiz bee and I'm made to review things that are beyond my years. I'm going to face dudes from larger schools and since I don't want to embarrass my school or myself, PLEASE YOU HAVE TO PRAY FOR ME. *burst into tears* THANK YOU IN ADVANCE, I LOVE YOU ALL.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia. Never will happen and not planning to.**

**a/n: Good song to listen to while reading; Heart Skips A Beat and Trouble Is A Friend by Lenka.**

**Nicolette Rucherfort is my human name for Monaco.**

**Chapter 12: The Young Girl With The Dollmaker**

She blinked a few moments before managing to find a catch a glimpse of the interesting sights that awaited her.

The ceiling was unfamiliar. It had a very old incandescent bulb. The walls were painted in a warm beige. To her left, there was a large wooden table, littered with a few craftsman tools. She finally sat up and wowed at the large amount of decor in the walls. There was probably more than ten different-themed craftsman clocks, the ones with pieces that moved when the magical hour of 12 struck. It was like a palace owned by a very interesting person.

Well, the 'interesting person' she was looking for sprawled unconscious on the hardwood floor, nowhere from waking. She almost yelped when she realized that she was in none other than that crazy Russian's room, lying on his bed.

Worse, the said man was topless. The scarf he wore was technically not an article of clothing, hence, he was really half-naked.

Looking under the blanket, she was still wearing that black dress. Her ankle was bandaged and looked like it was treated with cold compress. Her clothes didn't look like it was touched so..

_But that doesn't change the fact that you're still in a man's room_, her mind screamed at her.

She simply tossed the blanket to the topless man- then she realized that her blanket was actually the old military overcoat he wore when he just embraced her in the rain. Her mind screamed at her again.

Her heart was beating like crazy at the crazier turn of events. It took a lot of self control to prevent herself from screaming. Screaming at the numerous voices in her head to shut up. It was a time of momentary insanity for Lilli Zwingli.

After a few minutes, she remembered last night's events- the prom, Sakura, Lars.. The man who had saved her was none other than the local lunatic. And now, she was in his house. Why was she here, anyway? Lilli carefully set foot down- so much for the 'carefully' part, she stepped on something and fell face first on top of the bare-chested Russian.

On top of the bare-chested Russian.

Lilli wanted to just scream in terror, but the said man simply scrunched his eyebrows. He rolled to the side and just embraced her like a blanket. Speaking of blanket, the coat remained in between them.

"..um..uh, Herr..um.." she mumbled, muffled by the coat, "..Excuse me...p-please wake up.."

He only grunted, making her feel more uncomfortable. He smelled entirely of vodka. Lilli tried to pry herself out of the man's arms and only found herself being pulled closer. Just a little more and she would explode in his drunk-man's grip. Lilli managed to squirm until her face was not pressed against his chest. In exchange, a little more and the man's face would be pressed against her chest, which was worse, but never mind. In good intention that he would wake up, she lightly slapped his cheeks. _Wow, his cheeks are so squishy, wait, nein, nein-_

"Herr..please wake up.." she pleaded. He moaned a bit and blinked sleepily. She just kept on going, her slaps getting stronger and stronger. Finally, he let her go when she kept kneading his fat cheeks like a ball of dough. It was all too enjoyable that Lilli was quite disappointed when he let go.

"Privet, malysh..you're awake.."

Lilli watched from a distance as he painstakingly tried to lift himself up. Finally, she helped him sit up.

And mentally cursed on how heavy he was. He groaned, commenting on how everything looked 'double'. Probably having a bad hangover. There was barking downstairs. Did he have a dog?

"Come." he managed to mouth out, "Join me for breakfast." Lilli didn't have any choice, but followed him down. Looking back, what she stepped earlier was actually the faucet pipe he always carried. Her ankle still hurt a bit. After a few minutes, Lilli finally emerged out of the bedroom.

And promptly watched him fall down the staircase.

A large, white dog came up and greeted his master happily.

* * *

Lilli watched as the weird man staggered while making breakfast. Chopping vegetables with a hangover was not good. But he seemed used to it. After all, his movements were matching the rhythm. She could smell the distinct aroma of soup. It made her mouth water.

The dog, Laika, was sprawled beside her chair, friendly enough as it is.

"..Um, Herr?"

"Da~?" At least he wasn't an angry drunk.

"Can I ask what are you cooking?"

"Oh, borsch." said the Russian, "It's always...it's the only thing I have for now."

The young Germanic girl didn't really know what borsch was, but it sure smelled delicious. Finally, he served up a pot of steaming red soup with vegetables. She smiled. A clay pot, which was extremely rare these days. The Russian broke a large roll of bread, giving the half to her. "Ahm, prastite for the poor quality of my food. Iz really the only thing I have."

"Nein, it's alright." said Lilli, accepting the half roll. Prastite probably meant 'sorry' or something like that. "Danke- T-thank you for serving breakfast." She wanted to teach him some German to return the favor but it seemed too dangerous. She hasn't really found any evidence to prove the man's sanity.

Lilli watched him as he tore of a piece of his bread and gave it to Laika.

"..Herr, where exactly are we?"

"Moy house." he responded plainly, "I will return you home when I don't see funny anymore, da?"

She nodded. _At least he was kind enough to return me home._

The soup was very delicious. Maybe even at par with Lars' cooking. She kept stealing glances at him. Sometimes, he would not notice and sometimes, he caught her. When he did, he just smiled warmly back at her. The food kept her from noticing that she was blushing.

_Maybe he isn't crazy, after all._

"Mm, maybe a drink would help my eyes.."

_Just someone who likes alcohol very much._

* * *

His house was somewhere in W-City that she has not ever visited. It was situated in the northernmost outskirts of town. It took a train and a ridiculously long walk before she came to see all the familiar sights of her own territory. They kept talking about some random things to pass the time. Half of the travel, he let her ride on his back, only where people didn't know her. Once she realized she was in some place where people knew her, she got off and stood a good distance away from him. Lilli could notice everyone staring at him. How could he even endure all those times? She felt a little sympathy for him. She felt sorry for all the times she actually thought he was insane.

"Herr,"

He looked down to her. "Da?"

"This is my street. Thank you very much for accompanying me all the way here." With a little blush, Lilli added, "And for saving me, for breakfast, the wonderful borsch, the train fare, carrying me on your back and um..for..not doing anything weird while I was asleep. Y-you'll understand.."

He simply smiled and nodded. In return, she gave the brightest smile she could ever give. People like him were different in a good way.

"I'll try to visit your shop, some time!" she called out.

The silverette only waved at her from a distance. But he was happy beyond words.

...

Relief gushed to her once she stepped foot in her familiar grounds.

Bella immediately embraced her once she caught sight of her. Lars still had his hair undone. His face had some small band-aids, nothing serious. It seemed like nothing really happened last night. Everyone was acting normal.

Until dinner.

"What happened to you last night?" Lars looked at her. She felt herself shrink a bit. He seemed a bit angry. "I searched all over for you, everywhere." Bella politely intervened, asking Lars to calm down. Still, she didn't felt like she deserved anyone to side with her.

Lilli kept her head down. "I'm sorry."

The apology caught him off guard. She knew well why- Sakura. Lars' face softened.

"I.." the Dutchman started, "..I should be thanking you for bringing the police, b-but you disappeared. Don't ever do that again. Where exactly were you?"

The police..? She furrowed her eyebrows. As far as she remembered, she didn't call the police. Maybe the man did? Speaking of the man..

"...Ja..I got saved by someone and stayed in her house." she lied.

"Who's her?"

"..Um, N-Nicolette Rucherfort." she said the first classmate she knew.

"Francis Bonnefoy's protegee?" inquired Bella.

"Um, ja." Lilli mentally cursed. It seemed that Bella had already asked Francis about it and said no. But Nicolette was simply his protegee and had no other relationship with Francis other than that. Best, Lars doesn't seem to know about her much.

The Dutchman was quite unbelieving, but nodded as a response. At least it kept him quiet throughout the meal.

* * *

"Lilli?"

She blinked a bit before wrapping the blanket around her tiny frame. "..Ja, schwester..?"

Bella bit her lip nervously. Nein, she couldn't.. "You.. You didn't stay with Nicolette last night, did you..?"

All her sleepiness was replaced by pure nervousness. Bella dreaded asking that question and even got her more dreaded answer when silence overtook their conversation.

"..I didn't call the police." was all she said. The elder woman sighed, looking down from the bed.

"You weren't with the guy who always hangs around the park, right?" Bella clenched her fists when she heard a slight gasp from her. "..Tell me you weren't..."

Someone probably saw them both. She shut her eyes tight.

"Lilli.."

"H-he rescued me." Lilli wanted to slap some sense into her. It was like when she actually told Arthur Kirkland she liked Lars.

"He what?"

"Herr Lars told me to run but someone chased after me." she hesitantly narrated, "..H-he caught up to me and was about to.." Lilli shut her eyes tight. The memory was still fresh. "..Something was about to happen to me and that-that man, the man in the park.."

"How did he rescue you?" Bella looked down on the lower bed. Her voice was tainted with pure worry. "And does that mean you slept-"

Lilli whispered softly, asking her to calm down and speak in a softer voice. She was about to lie, but Bella knew. Nicolette denied. She had to thank Bella for not telling Lars.

"He's a good man, schwester." Lilli breathed, "He lives very far, a train away up north. He probably had to walk all the way there.." The more she spoke, the more she remembered the man's genuine kindness. She didn't realize Bella looking more and more devastated and her face heating up. She told her about the crafts, his cooking, his kindness, care.. Everything. Including their past meetings, which she was foolish enough to narrate. This only made Bella more disappointed. She had to look away momentarily to think clearly.

"I'm really sorry, schwester." she shut her eyes, "..Please...Don't tell Herr Lars, bitte."

Bella averted her gaze momentarily. Lilli frowned. "..Bitte. He will be heartbroken if he does manage to know."

It was true. Lars wouldn't like it. And if she was in her shoes, she would beg the same. Beg.

"Ja, fine." Bella breathed, "I won't tell."

Lilli smiled.

"On condition that you avoid him."

* * *

**Bitte- (Ger.) Please**

**Thanks for your prayers with the whole quiz bee fiasco.**

**Hai, fiasco.**

**There were four subjects- general science, math, general knowledge and spelling. I was first informed that I was going to represent as candidate for science and general knowledge, so naturally, I only reviewed two subjects. Then, at the day of the event, we learned it was a group competition. I went along with the other guys from my school and, there. Plus, I believe general knowledge is a mix of random subjects and everything. The only thing they asked us was about Philippine history and current events. (What I reviewed was out of my country. If they put me in social studies and world history, I would really win and we all know why.) And plus, most of the quiz masters were morons. The spelling quiz master's pronunciation was too, I dunno, weird. The way she pronounced 'frivolous' sounded like 'privilege' (three schools, including ours, answered that) and she made us spell 'indescriptable' something like that. Then, she tells us that she had asked us to spell 'descriptable' I want to yell 'Chto ty pidzish' at her. And to top it all, our requirements were our birth certificates and our school IDs. Guess what? THEY DIDN'T F-ING RETURN OUR IDs, I MEAN THOSE IDs COST US PHP 75 GOTTVERDAMMT ****ЕТО ПРОСТО ПИЗДЕТС, СРAT!**

**Our entries for the elementary division won 2nd place in Math and General Knowledge. And us? The ones whom they looked up to? We lost. :)**

**But still, thanks for everything. Even if I want to gut all those bloody wankers at once. Sorry if I had to rant it here. I seriously have no real friends whom I can tell this to. And when I mean 'real', I don't mean 'loyal'. I mean 'not imaginary' or made up by myself. That's how pitiful I am.**

**Aaaanyway, I have to think of the next chapter so, once again, thanks for your support.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Hetalia.**

**Chapter 13: The Dollmaker's Isolation**

Yao Wang looked up to see that the door was shut. It either meant that his 'employee' was locking himself up again, making dolls or he was sleeping with his head inside his vodka drawer, drunk. It seemed that it was the former, normally, the craftsman, when drunk, didn't have time to lock the door.

He could remember him, shutting himself for days without sleep, sometimes without water nor bathroom breaks, just surviving with a lot of vodka. It was his bad habit when he had that strange tinge of inspiration. He would make dolls, the most beautiful matryoshka dolls he had ever seen, for days. And after that, he'd get incredibly sick and stay asleep for days.

Yao had tried numerous times to get him act like a normal person to no avail. For all he knew, he could die with that life.

* * *

Lilli was half-relieved, half-worried. She could remember he would most of the time come and go, disappear and pop out of nowhere when he pleased it. Also, why was she thinking of those things? Bella had already warned her never to meet that man, but for some reason, there was this strange force pulling her to him. It felt unnerving. It seemed that she_ needed_ to see him.

Her day wasn't very much complete not seeing that face.

And even if she did see him, under orders, she was supposed to run away.

It was the safe way. To put her out of harm's way. She shook her head, remembering her mother's story. She swore to Vash and the whole world that she was going to do everything right.

And yet, she desperately wanted to see him. She cursed herself for being fickle. First, it was Lars and then, it was that guy.

Lilli smiled, but on the inside, she was in pain.

She realized that she had never even learned his name yet.

* * *

"Privet, dedushka, sestra."

The room was deathly silent. Still, bright violet eyes smiled.

"I want you to meet someone."

There was soft tapping of wood. He held a varnished girl matryoshka doll- wheaty hair neatly ornamented with some beads. It wore a black dress.

"She is a nice girl, da? Do you like her?"

The craftsman stood in front of his bedroom window, where three other beautiful dolls stood. A grumpy old man and two women.

"Her name is Lilli Peeters."

With that, he took a large swig of vodka and wished that the dolls would talk to him for real.

* * *

"Come, malysh, visit me."

* * *

**Dedushka- (Rus.) grandfather**

**Sestra- (Rus.) sister**

**Malysh- (Rus.) child (alright, let's sing Russia's Marukaite Chikyuu!)**

**..ja, it's another filler chapter. You guys need this to understand what will happen a few chapters later.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Nada.**

**Chapter 14: The Dollmaker In Danger**

Lilli couldn't believe her ears.

"Malysh.."

He was just down there. The night wind was cold. But it didn't matter. He was there. Her eyes were still blurry from lack of sleep, but she could see him. His violet eyes twinkled very beautifully amidst the dark.

The Russian stood a few floors down while Lilli had her head sticking out of the window. Her cheeks ached from smiling too much. Lilli cracked open the window a little more and crept out silently.

She held off a yelp when she immediately lost footing on the cold roof tiles.

_Catch me, bitte, Vanya-_

Lilli fell to the floor with a loud thud. She jolted awake, revealing a tired pair of dusky emeralds. It was morning. The blanket pooled around her frame. She disbelievingly rubbed her eyes.

Golden sunrays peeped from the window.

Faint snoring was heard. Lilli chuckled. No one outside the family knew about Bella's snoring.

This was reality.

Vanya was not outside the house, waiting.

The 15-year-old blinked. Vanya?

She shrugged it off. Maybe his name was actually Vanya? That would be great. Vanya, such a wonderful...gentle name.

Never mind, it was just a dream.

The most beautiful dream she ever had.

* * *

It took maybe a week of daydreaming before she really got to see him.

"Why are you here?" Lilli giggled to herself. There he was- her Vanya. Taking one of his naps on the same bench near the pretzel stall. It was a hot afternoon, his forearm shielded his eyes from the sun. Everything in her wanted to squish his fat cheeks and wake him up, see those beautiful eyes and hear his oddly calming voice. But she still had some limitations. She wished it would rain, so that all those bystanders staring at them would be gone. And so that she could be the one to shield him from the rain.

"I hope someday, I would catch you awake, mein freund." she whispered, "Wiedershen, and may we-"

Before she could end her brief farewell, the man jerked his chest upward, as if he was drowning. Lilli crept closer to inspect. His eyes opened violently and sat up, hand covering his mouth. He seemed to be choking, but then, she saw some weird stuff in between his gloves. Soon enough, he threw up in front of everyone. Lilli could faintly hear him muttering something like 'Go away' in between gagging. No one thought of the embarrassment. All they knew was that he needed medical help.

He fainted once again before an ambulance arrived. Lilli found out that he was not taking a nap- he was unconscious earlier.

Something was off with this guy.

Without further thinking, she decided to go with him to the hospital. She rode on the ambulance, gazing at the paramedics tending to the unconscious man. Lilli had her hands clasped throughout the ride, praying that he would be out of harm's way. When asked, she simply stated that she was the victim's friend. Like she was asked to, she stayed outside the room until the doctor came out and announced his condition.

"The poor sap just has a bad hangover."

Lilli felt her jaw unhinge. "...hangover..?"

The doctor, Arthur Kirkland's mother, Alice, nodded. "No need to fret, luv. He's just had too much. And I think he hasn't drank any water nor ate anything for days. Actually, it's a miracle the poor bugger's still alive."

As much as she wanted to believe the blond woman in front of her, she felt it was more than a hangover. She had seen her cousins Ludwig and Gilbert hung over a few times, there was occasional vomiting, full-on headaches.. She just didn't know the term she was looking for.

"Can I visit him?"

Alice nodded and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, ushering her to the room.

He barely passed as conscious, but his eyes were open. Lilli slowly made it to his side, as not to alarm him. She hoped he wouldn't be angry at her for meddling too much. He had tried to sent her away while he was having a throe.

"You should try being unconscious for some time. It's quite fun." Lilli felt a gush of relief, seeing that he was back to his old, weird self. The silverette stretched and gave off a big yawn before looking straight into her. "So, what are you doing here?"

She blinked. _He's right. What was she doing here?_

"..Um, I was..well, worried."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hm? Okay.. Why am I here, then?"

_The sensitive part._ "..Everyone saw you um, well.." She thought of the least awkward term, "..you were sick in the middle of the park and someone called up an ambulance. It-it wasn't me, I swear. I don't even have a cellphone."

The craftsman looked thoroughly amused at her little, childlike antics. "Da, I believe you, malysh. No need to get worked up. I should thank whoever sent the ambulance, though.."

Lilli relaxed immensely with every second. Secretly, she wished she was the one who called an ambulance. They sat there in silence for some time. It was uncomfortable silence. Though she was known as very sociable, she had a hard time talking to him, for some reason. She didn't know why. There was just something very different about him. Something like Lars. Maybe it was the scarf? Wait, that was irrelevant-

"Malysh-"

"J-ja," Lilli snapped out of her musings, "I-I mean 'yes'?"

Ivan gave off a slight chuckle. _She is quite adorable, this little darling_. "It's quite late now and I'm afraid cannot escort you home. You must go while it's not yet very dark-"

Before he could punctuate his sentence, she freaked out and bade goodbye hurriedly. He was a bit sad that he had to send her off so early, he had liked her company a lot. She didn't even see him waving at her.

After he was sure that she had left, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. _Now, how will I escape.._

* * *

**"You should try being unconscious for some time. It's quite fun."**

**I got that quote from a fellow writer R.K. Iris. You should go check out her fics. (her very very very long fics XD) But yeah, she's a great writer. :3**

**So there's Britannia, England's mom.**

**Okay, I'm not asking for anything big, but please, you have to pray for the Philippines. I'm one of the very lucky dudes who live somewhere typhoon-free and have an unlimited supply of electricity. The dudes in the South are in a pretty terrible condition, I mean, they've lost their houses, the city's literally a wreck, there's dead bodies scattered everywhere (literally) and there's hardly anything to eat. So please, pray for my country's recovery. Thanks a bunch.**

**-char-tomio**


	15. Chapter 15

**Once Upon A Time (RussLiechNed)**

**Disclaimer: Nyet.**

**Chapter 15: The Florist's Misinterpretation**

"And why were you late?"

"I'm sorry." No words could describe how Lilli felt as she passed by Lars, who was about to give her a scolding. It was a combination of proud, embarrassed, guilty and OMG-I-actually-did-that type of emotion. But she really was not in the mood to deal with Lars. Especially since she hasn't really found a good excuse.

Most of all, she wished that Bella wouldn't go and magically guess what took her so long.

...

Lilli surfing the 'Net, time divided between mailing her bestfriend Eliza, searching the query 'Switzerland military activities' and reading about something very important- alcohol poisoning. The more she read about it, the more she felt deeply disappointed with Arthur's mother. She couldn't blame her for trying not to worry her, but still..

It turns out that 'Vanya's 'hangover' was level 3 alcohol poisoning. She was quite baffled. He could have died without her noticing.

Can she be able to talk him out of it? Lilli pondered about it for a while. Wait, why was she even concerned?

The door opened. "Welcome home, schwester-"

"Lilli."

She whipped around, only to see Lars on the doorstep. "I-I'm sorry for not knocking, hej spit me."

For some reason, his presence and the way he was somehow nervous made her uneasy. "It's okay."

"Ja, then, can we talk?"

Lilli nodded. The Dutchman closed the door and sat on a nearby chair. He caught a glimpse of her little research. "Why are you reading about alcohol poisoning?"

"School." she lied. She can't believe she was getting better and better at this. Lars nodded albeit reluctantly.

"What did you want to talk about, Herr Lars?"

He shifted uncomfortably in his little seat. "..Well, I think you were being a bit too distant lately."

Lilli tried her best not to show her shock. "Ja, I'm sorry if I worried you." The Dutchman raised an eyebrow. By staring at her, Lilli became slowly and slowly more unnerved. It was a tested tactic to squeeze out any possible information. She was about to spill when Lars beat her to it.

"If you need anything don't hesitate to tell me."

"Ja, I will.."

"I know there are some things you can't tell Bella, ja?" This extracted a chuckle from Lilli. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"There's nothing you can't tell schwester Bella. She knows about everything."

"You're right about that." Lars grinned widely, "Zus is far smarter than she looks. She's even smarter than Yann when it comes to multiple choice questions."

"That means she's good at guessing, ja?" she giggled.

"Ja, I don't even understand how she manages-"

"-Ahem."

Both heads turned to the seemingly unpleased woman of the household, standing in front of the doorstep. And of course, no one uttered a word.

"Lars.."

"Ja." he frowned, shuffling out the room. Lilli noted that Bella had not referred to him as 'broer' like she usually does. As much as it was a form of intimidation, Lilli found it really comical.

"Well then, I should be planning on what to make for dinner." Not a hint of ill was left. She was back to the bubbly old Bella Peeters.

...

Images kept flashing back in the clear darkness of his mind. When he did open his eyes, all he saw was a shot glass and a half-empty bottle of vodka. He was about to reach out for it when he remembered that blond woman with weird eyebrows, telling him to stop. He disregarded it and poured the clear liquid. A breath from tipping it to his lips, he then remembered the worried face of the little blond girl. Unconsciously, he set the glass down and momentarily forgot about it.

It intrigued him to find out that at least someone- someone who barely knew him- would have the time and heart to worry about him.

Without further thinking, he wore his overcoat and carried his trusted faucet pipe and vodka bottle with him.

Time for an evening stroll.

...

Lars Peeters sat on the front porch, pipe clenched in between his teeth. Today was a good enough day in the flower shop, aside from the fact that a stray cat who just came out from nowhere knocked some vases.. He rubbed his temple. Not one of the best days.

He looked up. The moon was partially visible. From the left, one of the streetlights was already flickering. And from the dying light, he could see a dark figure sitting patiently underneath. He held a peculiar bottle of alcohol and Lars deduced that he was the crazy lunatic Bella told him about.

The Dutchman's green eyes narrowed, meeting the man's purple ones. He stayed rooted to the spot, bathed by the orange light that exaggerated the shadows around him. However, his violet orbs easily cut through the colors with it's inhumane glow. Why was he even there? From his sources, Lars could swear that the man lived in the park and nowhere else. As much as he hated to admit, he was intimidated by that never ending glower, a sniper laser that ensured a full, clean hit. Not wanting to disturb himself more, he extinguished his pipe and opened the door.

"Herr Lars."

Lars blinked at the young girl. "What are you doing..?"

"Oh," Lilli smiled timidly, eyeing her load, "It's my turn to take out the trash-"

"Nein, I'll take it from here." said Lars, taking the garbage bags.

"But-"

"Nein, just don't. I'm here already so I might as well do it." he drawled, turning away. Lilli furrowed her eyebrows but did not question further.

"Danke schon."

While dumping the garbage bags into the cans, he noticed that the crazy was gone. Lars huffed, wishing he wouldn't be here tomorrow. After all, he couldn't just let Lilli come out and take out the trash with a drunken lunatic outside.

Meanwhile, the said lunatic was somewhere in the shadows, managing to take a glimpse of Lilli returning to her room from the open window. He smiled, glancing at the bottle of vodka in his hands.

All he knew was that he didn't need a drink tonight.

**a/n: I am so sorry about the late updates, it's just that I was ambushed by inspiration and had to write two new RussLiech one-shots so..well, I'm the type of person who sets aside her work for hobbies. So there, please forgive me! Thanks for everyone who prayed for the Philippines!**


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